Alumni | Arts and Sciences | Lion VoicesNovember 22, 2024

Dr. Kayla Murray: Mending Mathematical Misconceptions

Written By: Ian Silvester

The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith is more than the place where Dr. Kayla Murray has implemented lesson plans since 2018. It is where her career took root years before she even arrived on campus as an employee.

Murray, an associate professor of mathematics, grew up in Van Buren, Arkansas, and always knew she wanted to attend college to study math. After spending her final two years of high school in Hot Springs, AR, where she attended the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science, and the Arts, choosing to attend UAFS came down to family. Having an honors scholarship was just the icing on the cake.

“I spent two years away … so, I wanted to be closer to (family),” she recalled.

Murray’s mom attended UAFS when the university was still Westark College and earned a respiratory therapy certificate. Shortly before Murray began at UAFS, her grandfather was a custodian for the Math Science Building, a place she knows intimately.

As a student at UAFS, Murray found solace in the support she received.

“I had a lot of research experience and personal relationships with the faculty,” she said.

Although she didn’t take small class sizes and readily accessible faculty for granted, these were staples she missed after graduating with her bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 2009 and beginning her graduate programs at the University of California, Riverside. Murray earned her master’s (2014) and Ph.D. (2018) in mathematics from UC Riverside before returning home.

“It worked out perfectly that there was a job opening (at UAFS) when I needed a job,” she said, smiling. “I remember when I interviewed here, I told the (former) dean that I wanted to create for students the same types of experiences I had when I was an undergrad.”

Murray has worked to do just that in the six years since her return to UAFS.

“People either love or hate math. Students sometimes think that their professors have never struggled with math. I tell them, ‘No, I’ve struggled with things. … All of your professors, even though they’re math professors, doesn’t mean that they’ve never struggled with math at some point,’” Murray explained. “I tell them that we all have struggles at some point. … What you struggle with and what your classmates struggle with are different, and you each need different amounts of time with your struggles.”

So how has she turned those difficulties into positive experiences like she had as a student? By changing how she grades her classes.

“I’m doing a new mastery grading, which gives students additional attempts,” Murray said. “Instead of taking big exams, I cut them into smaller, more frequent assessments, and they get multiple attempts at them.”

By adopting this model, Murray said students have shared a boost in their mental health and growing confidence in understanding and practicing math skills.

“There is a growth that happens. It’s just like any other skill, like playing an instrument, you have to practice, practice, practice,” she said.

Murray has found that this approach has helped her and her students identify gaps in their understanding and increased their interactions.

“Before, when a student didn’t (understand) a question, they’d just turn (the assignment) in. Now, I’ll have students ask me, ‘What am I not getting here?’ as they turn it in. It’s changing the conversation for them,” she said.

Murray’s changes have caught on with other math professors. She expressed her hope that it won’t stop there.

“I’ve been trying to slowly get the word out about some of the stuff we’re doing,” she said. “We (Dr. Jerry West, mathematics associate professor and assistant department chair, and former associate professor and department chair Dr. Emily Foss) presented at the Student Success Mini-Conference last March about the mastery grading and again in April at the Oklahoma-Arkansas Section Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America. I think it’s an idea that’s not exclusive to mathematics and could be used in many other disciplines.”

At the heart of why this works, Murray attributes to the class sizes at UAFS.

“In the middle of class, I go around and individually talk to them as they’re working and check on them. They need interaction. They don’t need lecturing with math,” Murray emphasized.

• Tags:
• Mathematics
• College of Arts and Sciences
• Faculty Voices
• UAFS Alumni